More or Less: Behind the Stats - Does wearing a mask halve your chances of getting Covid-19?

Does wearing a mask halve your chances of getting Covid-19?

Download Does wearing a mask halve your chances of getting Covid-19?

Masks, you may not have worn them before 2020 but now we’re all at it. With the rise of the Omicron variant countries have scrambled to reintroduce public health policies, among them mask wearing. Health officials and scientists agree that masks help reduce the incidence of covid19 infections – but by how much is still debated. Several newspapers recently reported that masks could cut Covid-19 infections by 53%, we look at how they came to this number and whether we should be believe it.

(Image: Leon Neal/Getty Images)


Published on Sunday, 5th December 2021.

Available Podcasts from More or Less: Behind the Stats

Subscribe to More or Less: Behind the Stats

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the More or Less: Behind the Stats webpage.